Sec. 23-2. Assault and battery—Prohibited; permissible violence; degree of force permitted.
a. Any person who commits an assault or battery or both upon the person of another is guilty of misdemeanor.
b. Violence used to the person does not amount to assault or battery in the following cases:
1. In the exercise of the right of moderate restraint or correction given by law to the parent over the child, the guardian over the ward, the teacher over the scholar.
2. For the preservation of order in a meeting for religious, political or other lawful purposes.
3. The preservation of the peace, or to prevent the commission of an offense.
4. In preventing or interrupting an intrusion upon the lawful possession of property.
5. In making a lawful arrest and detaining the party arrested when authorized by law, or in obedience to the lawful order of a magistrate or court, and in overcoming resistance to such lawful order.
6. In self defense, or in defense of another against unlawful violence offered to the person or property.
7. In all cases where violence is permitted to effect a lawful purpose, only that degree of force must be used which is necessary to effect such purpose. (Code 1962, § 27-2)